Monday, June 23, 2008

War Games

About 20 people from my team at work went to a place on the outskirts of ChengDu called National Defense Park to play some outdoor laser tag on Saturday morning. The place was originally created to be a sort of outdoor museum of China's military past, but hardly anyone ever goes there.

Checking out of old style artillery

There is lots of old military equipment around the park. Some of it looked like old soviet equipment dating back to WWII. I guess they needed some other form of revenue, so now they have the laser tag.

Taking a break by an old 20mm cannon

We were divided into two teams and put on some camouflaged fatigues... Our side wore green camouflage and the other team wore desert camouflage. We then got a vest and a helmet which have small sensors on them that can tell if someone else shoots you with their laser rifle. The laser rifle was attached to the vest by a cord, and if you are shot by someone else, then your rifle stops working for a few seconds and emits a sound. If you shoot someone else then you hear a different sound.

Some laser tag gear

We were divided into two teams, and played several different matches. The first match was a team vs team shootout in a large field. We each had three lives. I think I only got one kill before I was killed my third time. We were told the rifles were accurate up to 400 meters, but they didn't seem that accurate at 50 meters. Our team won the first match, so during the second match the other team got to defend a radar system on a hilltop and we had to attack.

Our two teams chatting after a match

During the second match I started working my way up the right side of the hill, while most of my team went rushing up the left and center of the hill. Being half my age they got up that hill much faster than me. By the time I reached the top of the hill all the rest of my team had been killed, so all the survivors of the other team came after me. I got five of them before they got me though! Hehe. Oh well, we lost that match.

I am not sure why they put a bi-pod on that rifle

For the third match we had to move two people safely from one place to another with the enemy waiting in between to ambush us. We did real bad on this match... even though we ended up killing all the enemy we lost our two VIPs to enemy fire. The other team had positioned their sniper really well, and he finished me off after I had only gotten one kill.

The opposing force team posing for a picture on an old rocket-artillery truck

The last match was a free-for-all. There were no teams, and everyone got three lives. Every 15 seconds they would let one of us run out into this big field where we could shoot each other. I was like the sixth person in, and found a really good spot to ambush people. I got twelve kills before three other people surrounded me and took me out. By the time the match was finished there was one other person with thirteen kills, so I ended up coming in second place. No prize for 2nd place... darn. The winner got a nice zippo-type lighter.

After the last match and I'm tired (yes, that is a Harley Davidson patch)

After laser tag most of us went out and had a big lunch. After lunch I went home and took a long hot shower. I do not know how the others were feeling, but it has been a long long time since I've done any military stuff and it took more of a toll on me than I thought it would. It seems every time I looked I found some new cuts and/or bruises on myself. The mosquitoes did a good number on me too. Although the day was pretty warm I was happy that it wasn't sunny or I would have had to deal with sunburn too.

After an aspirin, a lot of cold water to drink, and a short nap I went out and met Amber for dinner. We ate a sichuan restaurant and did a little shopping at a new shopping mall near where I live. I was suppose to go to a late party on Saturday night, but after such a long day I decided to go to bed early, and I skipped the party. Luckily I did not have a lot to do on Sunday since I woke up feeling very stiff and sore. Reese came over later in the afternoon to for some Chinese tutoring and afterwards we, along with her mother, went out and had hotpot for dinner. I slept real well on Sunday night.